Ohio State's Contract With Coca-Cola Released: Original Trade Secret Redactions Get Unredacted

The Lantern is reporting that The Ohio State University's contract with Coca-Cola have been released after objections made by interested citizens. Payments made to OSU from Coke come from royalty fees and vending commissions on Coke products sold on the university's campus. In exchange, Coke receives the exclusive right to sell its products on campus as well as sponsorship opportunities and the ability to use OSU trademarks in Coca-Cola advertising.

For a short period, both OSU and Coca-Cola refused to produce the actual numbers contained in the agreement on grounds that the same constituted confidential trade secrets. They've reversed course now and have released the numbers. This is not the first public-private contract that resulted in trade secrets claims made, and then reversed. We covered a similar issue earlier in May in connection with the University of Oregon's arrangement with Nike: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/05/swoosh-oregon-attorney-general-orders.html.